By the time freshman Nick Hehemann gets home from club basketball practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, most of the dining halls are wrapping up their services.

He said because his friends have usually already eaten, he heads to Baja Grill and orders two beef quesadillas and an order of chips and salsa.

Between that and his Friday shift at MUTV, Hehemann eats at Baja three times a week.

“I wouldn’t want to overdo it,” he said.

All in all, Hehemann’s order comes out to 1,065 calories.

Some offerings at Baja Grill and Rollins Late Night have bigger portions and more calories, fat and sodium than their counterparts at fast-food restaurants, according to data from Campus Dining Services’ website.

CDS is changing recipes and ingredients at many of its locations but has no plans to do so at Rollins Late Night and Baja Grill, CDS associate director Steve Simpson said. Those locations, along with Emporium Café, are the only dining halls open after 9 p.m.

“I know of no planned changes to recipes, including the size or fat content of the beef hamburgers, including other beef or chicken products that we currently use,” Simpson said in an email.

Students’ nutrition is their own responsibility, Simpson said.

“You can always choose the healthiest thing on the menu or the unhealthiest thing on the menu,” Simpson said. “Good service offers variety, and CDS does not believe in limiting or prohibiting variety for someone’s tastes.”

But students who visit dining halls after 9 p.m. don’t have many healthy options to choose from, Wellness Resource Center peer educator Jen Snawder said.

“College students tend to get hungry late at night, and late at night is when all the unhealthy food is offered,” Snawder said in an email. “Rollins Late Night offers apples, (oranges) and bananas, and that’s about as far as eating healthy goes.”

**“Stealth Health”: CDS’s nutrition efforts**

CDS has made several efforts in recent years to make it easier for students to make good decisions about nutrition, Simpson said.

He said he recognizes trends are moving toward health-conscious choices. As a result, some dining halls are incorporating more grains and legumes into their menus and placing a lighter emphasis on meat.

The dining halls use a technique called “Stealth Health” to coax students into eating health food without CDS marketing it as such, CDS marketing director Michael Wuest said.

For example, a recipe that once called for mayonnaise might now go without it. Those little tweaks are a trend in the dining halls, Wuest said.

There are also special refrigerators at Pavilion at Dobbs and Plaza 900 with options for gluten-free and high-fiber bread, as well as soy milk.

But junk food will always be offered when there is a demand for it, Wuest said.

He said the daily menus, which are put together by CDS’s chefs and four dietitians, follow trends the staff learns about through industry publications or annual conferences put on by organizations such as the National Association of College & University Food Services.

Wuest said he also learns about trends through visits to the grocery store, and the trends lean toward junk food.

“When I go to the grocery store, typically at night, I’ll see college-age students there, and I see what they’re buying,” Wuest said. “It’s the popcorn, chips, candy — snack food.”

Students who want to know what they’re putting in their bodies can use CDS’s Zoutrition tool, which makes nutrition information for all dining hall food available on the CDS website, Wuest said.

The tool launched in August 2011 as a way for students with food allergies or dietary requirements to eat at the dining halls without concern, Wuest said. It’s available to everyone, but few students use it.

The Zoutrition website receives about 1,200 page views each week, compared to 2,000 to 4,000 weekly page views for dining.missouri.edu, Wuest said.

CDS uses a “passive advertising” technique for Zoutrition so as not to market unnecessarily to the majority of students, who have little desire to know the nutrition information of their food, Wuest said.

CDS promotes Zoutrition for one week in the fall and through freshman registration and Summer Welcome, he said. In addition, each dining hall register has a sticker promoting the tool.

To increase awareness, CDS is working to have Zoutrition kiosks available in the dining halls.

**Late-night eating**

Though there is constant access to the Zoutrition website, students who want a hot meal late at night are only met with calorie-dense options.

Freshman Morgan Hutton, a resident of Schurz Hall, knows this all too well. Between her commitments to her sorority and her class schedule that doesn’t work in favor of dining hall hours, she finds herself at Baja Grill almost every day of the week.

“I wish all of the dining halls stayed open late,” Hutton said.

During the day, there are options for soups with less than 50 calories or grilled chicken tossed in a rainbow-colored salad, but Baja has options such as the chicken burrito, which top 800 calories.

If a student stops by Rollins Late Night, he or she can purchase a hamburger that nears 350 calories.

Many of the portions offered at Rollins Late Night and Baja Grill are two to three times larger than the same foods at fast-food restaurants, according to nutrition data.

“I feel like when you get chips, all you get is grease,” Hutton said.

Peer educator Ryan Manganelli suggested thinking outside the dining hall box if you’re eating late.

“If you need a late night snack, go for something filling and nutritious (students can check out wellness.missouri.edu/nutrition for snack ideas),” he said in an email.

**Taking responsibility for your health**

CDS and students should work together to improve on-campus nutrition, peer educators from the Wellness Resource Center said.

“The dining halls can offer all the healthy foods that they want, but they will always have to have some unhealthy choices to compensate for those students who choose not to eat healthy,” peer educator Catie Connoley said in an email. “This is when I think education about nutrition comes into play.”

Connoley suggested CDS post “nutrition fun facts” around the dining halls to inform students of what they’re eating and how to make it even healthier.

Students should also be aware of serving sizes, Connoley said. The all-you-care-to-eat style of the MU dining halls can be detrimental to students who are watching their calorie intake.

“I would tell students who want to be healthy at the dining halls and at college is to remember my favorite word: moderation,” Connoley said.

CDS should help students by keeping nutritious foods stocked in the dining halls, peer educator Landon Chard said.

“They need to make sure the healthy food is always available,” Chard said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a (dining) hall and they only had iceberg lettuce. Where’s the healthier romaine lettuce? Also, I think it’s OK to run out of the unhealthier foods but never OK to run out of the healthier options.”

Many health advocates suggest not eating at night anyway for digestive reasons and because of the tendency to overeat, Chard said.

Late-night eaters on campus are increasingly turning to Emporium Café, which is expanding to have an “upscale” atmosphere that comes with a perception of being healthier, Wuest said.

Emporium offers more nutritious options than Rollins Late Night and Baja, including Greek yogurt, hummus and homemade granola. The café is open until 11 p.m. on weeknights.

**“Voting with Your Fork”**

Simpson said he encourages students to take action if they want something changed.

The Residence Halls Association’s Residential Living Committee meets with CDS each month to discuss any feedback from students about the dining halls. There, they can discuss anything from menu items to coffee temperature to the price of a Baja smoothie, Wuest said.

Students can contact an RHA representative to give suggestions about the dining halls.

CDS also uses social media, especially Twitter, to gauge students’ feedback.

The loudest statement students can make is “voting with your fork,” or eating the foods they want to keep available at CDS locations, Simpson said. For example, sushi was an unexpected but hugely popular selling fixture at the MU Student Center, ensuring its availability daily.

Manganelli suggested students reach for healthier foods to make a statement to CDS.

“After doing a presentation with a CDS staff dietician, I know their top priority is to serve food items that will not be wasted,” he said. “If there is a way to fulfill the top priority and limit the rotation of fried items, high calorie and fat items such as burgers, pizzas, certain soups — that should be the next step.”

If students wish to make changes in the dining hall, besides the statement of what they eat on their plates, they can also email the MU dining halls at mufood@missouri.edu or tweet at CDS at @MUcampusdining.

CDS receives five to 10 emails a week, Simpson said, and the staff is adamant about answering them within 24 hours.

“This program is for you,” Wuest said.